Intel is looking to enter the streaming media market in a big way by launching its own set top box and streaming service later this year to compete with existing streaming services, all of whom are battling each other for content and subscribers.
Intel’s plan may seek to meld together on-demand shows and movies with live television broadcasts as part of a hybrid model that would not only offer content from the past, but also recently aired programs that viewers may have missed. The latter concept is essentially how BBC iPlayer works, and to a lesser extent, Hulu. BBC’s iPlayer posts a show for up to seven days after the original broadcast on any mobile device that offers the app.
There is still no word on what sort of deals Intel has managed to strike with TV providers or content owners to get both live and past programming. Other than saying that “good progress” has been made, the company has been mum on what that actually means for consumers.
It’s also not entirely clear what Intel’s real end game is with this endeavor. Is the company looking to help shake up the TV industry or is this more a marketing strategy to ensure more devices running on Intel chips get into consumers’ hands?
Time will tell eventually, but the combination of hardware and software suggests that this isn’t meant to be a gimmick or a half-hearted entry into what’s really becoming a tight battleground. The platform will be open to third-party apps, and may offer tight integration with mobile devices (regardless of what processor is under the hood) to up the ante further. The box is even said to have a camera to identify multiple users in a home for a more personalized experience.
The live TV side of this presents the most intriguing possibilities, particularly because it’s something other major streaming services don’t really do. But it seems unlikely that big cable companies wouldn’t be averse to what Intel has in mind — especially since some of them are also Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The data pipes that route all the Web traffic needed to get that live content would be even more valuable, forcing providers like Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon to either compete with Intel’s new service or isolate it by throttling users who are connected to it.
In fact, Verizon is already attempting to pave the way for those very practices by arguing in a Washington circuit court of appeals that the Open Internet rules the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) instituted violate the First Amendment because the federal government has no right to regulate the Internet.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.